The court denies a petition for a writ of actual innocence because it was based on evidence available to petitioner before his conviction became final in the circuit court. Background On July 27, 2010, petitioner Johnson pleaded guilty to bank ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Mary Bennett Malveaux Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant was convicted in two different counties for felony eluding, there was no double jeopardy violation. Even though the convictions arose from the same incident, the motorists endangered were not the same in the two counties. Background In Chesterfield ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Glen A. Huff Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Even though the police discovered documents and court papers bearing appellant’s name in an apartment bedroom, there was insufficient evidence that appellant constructively possessed marijuana and Xanax that was also found in the bedroom. His possession with intent to distribute ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the court issued a series of sentencing orders that contained errors, the court had the authority under Code § 8.01-428(B) to modify the orders so the record accurately reflects its rulings. Setting it straight Appellant entered guilty pleas to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Even assuming, without deciding, that the trial court erred by admitting a 1989 rape conviction at appellant’s bench trial for three sex crimes, any error was harmless. The minor child’s testimony about appellant’s abuse was corroborated with a DNA test ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant was convicted of several sex crimes at a bench trial, the trial court correctly admitted evidence of appellant’s 1988 rape conviction. Overview Appellant was convicted after a bench trial of two counts of forcible sodomy, object sexual penetration ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where the police found two baggies on the ground close to where appellant was handcuffed, there was sufficient evidence that appellant possessed the cocaine with the intent to distribute. His conviction after a bench trial is affirmed. Possession “The record ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellee’s first murder trial ended in a hung jury, and the second trial was continued at the commonwealth’s request, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by setting a $10,000 pretrial bond. In the trial court Johnston, the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant assisted in disposing of a body by dumping it “in a garbage-strewn and filthy park, leaving it at the mercy of marauding animals,” he was properly convicted of defiling a dead body under Code § 18.2-323.02. Appellant’s argument ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals

Where appellant did not identify any specific clerical mistake in a sentencing order, the trial court correctly construed appellant’s motion for a nunc pro tunc order as a challenge to the sentence, rather than a motion to correct an error ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert P. Frank Virginia Court of Appeals